Asking For a Seat at the UMC Table

The United Methodist Church is in the news. NPR, New York Times, Washington Post, Houston Chronicle, and many others. They have been meeting in General Conference, where elected delegates from the global church debated whether to maintain prohibitions on LGBTQIA+ people in the life of the church, or to eliminate some of those prohibitions, or … Continue reading Asking For a Seat at the UMC Table →

A Mission for the Methodists

Happy New Year! 2019 is underway! I love fresh starts, new calendars, and looking ahead to good things to come. I started this year by reading a book by Dr. William B. Lawrence, who serves as professor of American Church History at Perkins School of Theology and is a research fellow at Duke Divinity School. … Continue reading A Mission for the Methodists →

Never Mind The Chaos, Women Still Live Out The Gospel

The chaos and confusion in the United Methodist Church continued this week with the news that two amendments to our denomination’s constitution failed to pass the required two-thirds ratification by annual conferences. These amendments had passed at the 2016 General Conference. When I read the amendments prior to Annual Conference last year, I saw a … Continue reading Never Mind The Chaos, Women Still Live Out The Gospel →

The Hopefulness of Mission, or Why I’m Not Worried about the Future of the UMC

I am a United Methodist. My denomination recently celebrated its 50th anniversary, remembering how it was formed by a union of The Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church in 1968. This church has formed me as a disciple of Jesus Christ, has taught me grace, taught me how to sing grace, preach grace, … Continue reading The Hopefulness of Mission, or Why I’m Not Worried about the Future of the UMC →